Abstract

FERREIRA, Nelson Manuel de Lima  and  RODRIGUES, Vítor Manuel Costa Pereira. Assessment of the impact of polypharmacy on funding for admission in a long-term care and maintenance unit. Rev. Enf. Ref. [online]. 2012, vol.serIII, n.6, pp.17-24. ISSN 0874-0283.  https://doi.org/10.12707/RIII1160.

Context: the financial situation of welfare states obliges them to undertake a careful analysis and reflection of the whole field of health to ensure that their sustainability is possible. In Portugal there is, as elsewhere in Europe, a progressive aging of the population, a consequence of increased life expectancy and low birth rate. Objectives: to evaluate the impact of polypharmacy in daily sums charged to a long-term care and maintenance unit. Method: this was an exploratory case study with 65 users admitted to the Long-term Care and Maintenance Unit - Dona Elvira da Câmara Lopes of Santa Casa da Misericórdia da Póvoa de Lanhoso. Results: there is major polypharmacy in this population, including an average of six prescription drugs per patient. Calculation, based on a daily allowance of 10 EUR, gives a high percentage impact of 37% on the budget allocated by the state. Conclusion: it is necessary to understand prescribing patterns in other contexts as well as to ascertain the reasons/motives that lead to prescribing more than one drug.

Keywords : polypharmacy; demographic aging; health expenditures.

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